Kids watch from their front porch on Seventh Street in the East End neighborhood of Portsmouth. The East End has the city's highest crime rate. Many of its residents struggle with poverty and drug addiction.
Kids watch from their front porch on Seventh Street in the East End...READ ON
Kids watch from their front porch on Seventh Street in the East End neighborhood of Portsmouth. The East End has the city's highest crime rate. Many of its residents struggle with poverty and drug addiction.
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With so many homes abandoned or neglected and little culture of pet spaying/neutering, the cat population of Portsmouth is exploding.
With so many homes abandoned or neglected and little culture of pet...READ ON
With so many homes abandoned or neglected and little culture of pet spaying/neutering, the cat population of Portsmouth is exploding.
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Melissa, 33, recovering heroin addict at home with her cat.
Melissa, 33, recovering heroin addict at home with her cat.
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Lunging pit bull, East End neighborhood of Portsmouth.
Lunging pit bull, East End neighborhood of Portsmouth.
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Viola, 84 has been living in the East End neighborhood of Portsmouth for decades, a neighborhood known for its high crime rate, poverty, and heroin addiction.
Viola, 84 has been living in the East End neighborhood of Portsmouth for...READ ON
Viola, 84 has been living in the East End neighborhood of Portsmouth for decades, a neighborhood known for its high crime rate, poverty, and heroin addiction.
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Pray.
Pray.
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Abandoned house, East End neighborhood of Portsmouth.
Abandoned house, East End neighborhood of Portsmouth.
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Boy on Seventh Street in the East End neighborhood of Portsmouth. The East End has the city's highest crime rate. Many of its residents struggle with poverty and drug addiction.
Boy on Seventh Street in the East End neighborhood of Portsmouth. The...READ ON
Boy on Seventh Street in the East End neighborhood of Portsmouth. The East End has the city's highest crime rate. Many of its residents struggle with poverty and drug addiction.
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Vandalized shed.
Vandalized shed.
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Scolding.
Scolding.
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Decoy owl.Â
Decoy owl.Â
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Kids play on Seventh Street in the East End neighborhood of Portsmouth. The East End has the city's highest crime rate. Many of its residents struggle with poverty and drug addiction.
Kids play on Seventh Street in the East End neighborhood of Portsmouth....READ ON
Kids play on Seventh Street in the East End neighborhood of Portsmouth. The East End has the city's highest crime rate. Many of its residents struggle with poverty and drug addiction.
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Girl watching the Fourth of July parade, South Shore, KY. Like neighboring Portsmouth, across the Ohio River, the small community of South Shore, Kentucky is currently struggling with a heroin epidemic.
Girl watching the Fourth of July parade, South Shore, KY. Like...READ ON
Girl watching the Fourth of July parade, South Shore, KY. Like neighboring Portsmouth, across the Ohio River, the small community of South Shore, Kentucky is currently struggling with a heroin epidemic.
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Neglected classic cars, Portsmouth, Ohio.
Neglected classic cars, Portsmouth, Ohio.
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James, 55, heroin addict, photographed during a clean needle exchange program sponsored by the Portsmouth City Health Department.
James, 55, heroin addict, photographed during a clean needle exchange...READ ON
James, 55, heroin addict, photographed during a clean needle exchange program sponsored by the Portsmouth City Health Department.
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Boys on Seventh Street in the East End neighborhood of Portsmouth. The East End has the city's highest crime rate. Many of its residents struggle with poverty and drug addiction.
Boys on Seventh Street in the East End neighborhood of Portsmouth. The...READ ON
Boys on Seventh Street in the East End neighborhood of Portsmouth. The East End has the city's highest crime rate. Many of its residents struggle with poverty and drug addiction.
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47-year-old Regina from Portsmouth, Ohio has been taking Suboxone, an opioid inhibitor used to treat heroin addiction. She has been clean for the past five years. "I could never do it until Suboxone came into my life. It gave me a life." As a child, Regina says she was sexually abused by her stepfather.
"The pain and agony that my brain went through drove me crazy. I had to have something that would altar all that." Regina attends regular counseling sessions at SOLACE, a treatment and support center for recovering addicts in Portsmouth.
47-year-old Regina from Portsmouth, Ohio has been taking Suboxone, an opioid inhibitor...READ ON
47-year-old Regina from Portsmouth, Ohio has been taking Suboxone, an opioid inhibitor used to treat heroin addiction. She has been clean for the past five years. "I could never do it until Suboxone came into my life. It gave me a life." As a child, Regina says she was sexually abused by her stepfather. "The pain and agony that my brain went through drove me crazy. I had to have something that would altar all that." Regina attends regular counseling sessions at SOLACE, a treatment and support center for recovering addicts in Portsmouth.
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Marvin, 33, recovering heroin addict. Until May of 2015, he was living in an abandoned house in Portsmouth, Ohio. He is currently receiving medication-assisted treatment and participates in a daily support group session at SOLACE, a local treatment and support center for recovering addicts.
Marvin, 33, recovering heroin addict. Until May of 2015, he was living...READ ON
Marvin, 33, recovering heroin addict. Until May of 2015, he was living in an abandoned house in Portsmouth, Ohio. He is currently receiving medication-assisted treatment and participates in a daily support group session at SOLACE, a local treatment and support center for recovering addicts.
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Paula, 52, recovering heroin addict, photographed outside SOLACE, a local treatment and support center for recovering addicts.
Paula, 52, recovering heroin addict, photographed outside SOLACE, a...READ ON
Paula, 52, recovering heroin addict, photographed outside SOLACE, a local treatment and support center for recovering addicts.
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Tangie, 49, recovering heroin addict. Tangie lost a daughter to a heroin overdose.
Tangie, 49, recovering heroin addict. Tangie lost a daughter to a heroin overdose.
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Levi and Nikki with their baby, Mazie, on the Fourth of July at the Wayne Hills apartment complex in Portsmouth. A subsidized housing project, Wayne Hills is known in the community for the prevalence of drug use among its residents. Both Levi and Nikki have steady jobs, and neither struggles with addiction.
Levi and Nikki with their baby, Mazie, on the Fourth of July at the...READ ON
Levi and Nikki with their baby, Mazie, on the Fourth of July at the Wayne Hills apartment complex in Portsmouth. A subsidized housing project, Wayne Hills is known in the community for the prevalence of drug use among its residents. Both Levi and Nikki have steady jobs, and neither struggles with addiction.
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Ashley, 32 is addicted to heroin and works as a prostitute to support her habit. Both her parents and one of her brothers died of drug overdoses. Last winter, a john forced her into his car at gunpoint. He drove her to a remote location in Kentucky where she said he beat and raped her.
Ashley, 32 is addicted to heroin and works as a prostitute to support...READ ON
Ashley, 32 is addicted to heroin and works as a prostitute to support her habit. Both her parents and one of her brothers died of drug overdoses. Last winter, a john forced her into his car at gunpoint. He drove her to a remote location in Kentucky where she said he beat and raped her.
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Megan Lancaster disappeared in April of 2013. The 25-year-old mother struggled with heroin addiction, turning to prostitution to support her habit. Over the past two years, the bodies of four women have been found in the Portsmouth and Chillicothe area while several remain missing. Many of the women struggled with drug addiction at the time of their disappearance.
Megan Lancaster disappeared in April of 2013. The 25-year-old mother...READ ON
Megan Lancaster disappeared in April of 2013. The 25-year-old mother struggled with heroin addiction, turning to prostitution to support her habit. Over the past two years, the bodies of four women have been found in the Portsmouth and Chillicothe area while several remain missing. Many of the women struggled with drug addiction at the time of their disappearance.
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It's a Boy
It's a Boy
Bloodbuzz
Less than a decade ago, Portsmouth, Ohio in the Ohio River valley bordering Kentucky had the highest concentration of pill mills - pain management clinics in the nation. The pill mills have all been shut down, the doctors dispensing powerful opiates, such as Percocet and OxyContin chased out, or arrested as tougher legislation was implemented. With prescription pain killers harder to come by, cheap heroin quickly filled the vacuum. Portsmouth is currently reeling from a heroin epidemic.
Michelle Frankfurter
Metro Washington, DC based documentary photojournalist specializing in in-depth long-form documentary projects.